A system of grading which was originally introduced by the late Dr. William H. Sheldon, for the purpose of grading large cents. The system was adapted to all coins in the early 1970's. The Sheldon Scale, as used today, incorporates numerical grades I through 70 to correspond with various descriptive grades as follows:

Poor-1 
Fair-2 
Almost Good-3 
Good-4,6 
Very Good-8, 10 
Fine-12,15 
Very Fine-20,25,30,35 
Extremely Fine-40,45 
Almost Uncirculated-50, 53, 55, 58 
Mint State- 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70

We are currently set up at the Sunday Westford coin show. A popular attraction for the kids that attend is the free handful of coins they get from the treasure chest at our table. Take a look!

It's been years in the works (not due to technical issues, but rather proscrastination issues), but our blog is finally here. There will be educational posts such as the FYI posts below, coin show reports (some of them live from a coin show), market updates, funny stories, promotions only available to our blog readers, and much more. Please check back often!

We've got another small batch of grading going out today to one of the grading services. Stay tuned!

It’s Superbird!

In 1952, a proof Washington Quarter was produced containing a letter "S" on the eagle's chest on the reverse side of the coin. After its discovery, collectors quickly referred to it as the Superbird Quarter, comparing it to the Superman hero character. In the 1950s, the Superman TV show was so extremely popular that some experts believe that a Mint employee intentionally added the "S' mint mark on the eagle's chest as a way of supporting the Superman show. It's now been over 50 years since its discovery and no further information has developed on how this variety occurred, and more than likely we will just never know. But one thing is for certain - this is a very interesting variety.